Creation
by Freebie
Summary: [Complete] 'Only when my husband gets home will I be able to sleep, safe in the knowledge that my family has survived another day.' As Lily waits for James with Harry, she reflects upon a special incident between them.


**A/N: A little stand-alone Lily/James.  I hope you like it; I actually loved writing it, so I hope it meets the standard.  My thanks as always goes to Quinara, Amarasaa (who all my Lily/James stories are especially written for), Miss M and Carrie.  They're always boosting my confidence (which is not always a good thing!).   I really hope you like this.  Also, if you have time please leave a review, as I would love to see what you think.**

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I sit here counting the minutes until he gets home because only when he gets home will I feel safe.  Only when my husband gets home will I be able to sleep, safe in the knowledge that my family has survived another day.

I look at our precious baby boy sleeping- when I became pregnant I never thought I would be living like this.  I never thought my own child would be born into such a war-torn world.  I never thought he would be in so much danger; we both knew he would be in some danger, but that prophecy, it changed everything.  

I never say it changed it for the worse though, I wouldn't give up Harry for the world.  To me, he's incredible.  He's a part of me and a part of James, and to me, it's so important that James and I created something that's just ours.  Sure, Sirius, Remus and Peter have a 'claim' on him too (that's what they say, not me), but at the end of the day James and I created him, and that is one of the main reasons he is so important to me.  

James and Harry are my world, and the fact that they are so similar gives me comfort.  I refuse to think that if I ever lost James he would 'live on' in Harry, to me that's ridiculous.  Harry and James both have their own unique personalities, just because they look similar doesn't mean they are identical.  There is a difference between being identical and being similar.  

Hopefully Harry won't be like his father when it comes to girls; apparently James loved me from the moment I said I would rather date the giant squid than him and to this day, I still have no idea why he fell in love with me at that precise moment in time- I could have sworn that was an insult.  What kind of idiot falls in love with you when you insult them?  Sometimes, 'James Logic' is a very confusing thing.  No.  Scratch that.  James logic is always a very confusing thing.  For example, take the time we first kissed- which surprisingly enough was not the day we started dating.  I mean, if a person loves you, surely your first kiss with that person should be something really memorable and romantic; actually, it was memorable (this is James Potter we're talking about here) but romantic?  Nope.  Not one bit.  You see I had been so sure that I wouldn't lose.  Maybe I should start from the beginning…

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I was sitting in the common room flicking through a muggle magazine with my friend Emily, Potter then came sauntering in as if he owned the room (which in all fairness he probably did).  He saw us and made a bee line for us; I was actually quite surprised that Sirius, Remus and or Peter weren't with him.  He plopped himself down next to me and swung an arm round the back of the couch- and my shoulders.  I wasn't quite sure what to do- did he have a death wish?  Thankfully, Emily had enough sense to ask him.

"James, I don't hate you like Lily does, but if you die in the next few minutes, I will not feel sorry for you, because right now, you are doing a very stupid thing."

James looked at me and then at her, "Yeah, whatever.  I'm so scared, Emily.  What is Evans going to do?"

I sent him a look.  "Remember that time that you said I'd spent all night in your dorm having, I quote: 'wild monkey sex'?  Well, do you remember when you saw me at breakfast and I rendered you unable to have 'wild monkey sex' for a very long time?"

A little look popped up on his face- oh yeah!  He totally remembered!  He immediately removed his arm.

"Whatever, Evans," he retorted.

"Great comeback there, Potter," I snapped back.

"Ooh!  Even better one there, Evans!"  he replied.

"Well, yours are even-"

"Oh, my God!  Will you two both shut the hell up!" Emily yelled, cutting off my comeback (which I must say, was a good one).  "You're head boy and girl and you're acting more immature than the first years!"  She then looked over at a group of first years, "No offence, guys!"

I gaped at her, "We are not acting more immature than them… no offence!"

James ruffled his hair (God, I wanted to snap his wrist.  By then I had come to realise it was a habit but that did not make it any less annoying!), "Come on, Evans.  This is quite juvenile."

I looked at him and then something popped into my mind.  "Hey, aren't you meant to be in detention with McGonagall, Potter?"

He smiled, "Nope!  She fell for my charms, let me go early."

Emily snorted, "She 'fell for your charms', what a joke, James!  Is Lily going to have to go there and make sure McGonagall isn't in her underwear with ever changing hair colours?"

James and Lily both groaned at the mental image; Emily couldn't help but smile some odd reason

"She loves me.  Hell, she wants me!" James bragged.  I was finding it seriously hard not to attack him by now.

Sirius and Remus had just stumbled in (sans Peter). 

 "Who wants you?" Sirius asked (trust him to ask).

"McGonagall," James stated smugly.

Even Sirius laughed.  "Get real, Prongs mate!  This is McGonagall!"

"Hey, I would hit on her to prove it!" 

I looked at him, "Forget about the proving part- just hit on her."

He looked at me, "What's in it for me?"

Before I could say anything, Sirius butted in.  "Lily kisses you."  Damn you Sirius Black, was the only thing going through my mind for about five minutes after he suggested that.

Everyone looked at me and agreed.  It was what they called a 'fair exchange'.  I looked at Emily to help me get out of it, but she just smiled and shrugged.  I wasn't really too worried though, there was no way in hell James would hit on McGonagall.  I was going to win this hands down!  All I needed were the terms for what **would** actually happen when he lost.

"If you lose, you stop asking me out," I stated simply.  

James seemed to pale a bit.  What the hell was his problem; was asking me out integrated so well into his system that he would suffer from withdrawal symptoms? (Because let us all remember, he **was** going to lose).

"Okay," he replied.

I got up with a smile on my face.  "Prepare to lose, Potter!" I said.

That smug look returned to his face, "Prepare to kiss me, Evans!"

I couldn't help but feel a bit worried; I suddenly realised he **never** backs out of a bet.

Then I could only think of one word.

Shit.

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I can't help but smile at my naïve seventeen year-old self.  How could I ever had thought that kissing James Potter would be a bad thing?  I smile and continue to remember my story…

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I felt ill.  I was going to lose.  Oh… shit! I thought.  Why did I agree to this fucking bet?  I am going to die!!

I trudged into the Transfiguration room.  Breakfast had sucked.  Mainly because James kept going on about how he couldn't wait to kiss me.  I was ready to sock him by the end of it.

I went into the classroom and sat in my usual seat.  I took out my books as Emily collapsed into her chair beside me.  She hated NEWT transfiguration.  She only did it because her parents forced her to.  Thank God my parents are muggle- anymore involvement in my school life and I would kill myself.

That's when I saw him.  Sirius, Remus and Peter seated themselves, but he came to me.

"Well, this should be fun, Evans," he said.

"Oh, yes!  I always love watching you getting detention!" I said with gleeful sarcasm as I clapped my hands like a pathetic Hufflepuff. 

He smiled, a proper smile.  I couldn't help but think he looked handsome (just because I hated him did not mean I was completely blind).  He leaned forward and close to me, so close that when he spoke his breath tickled my ear- "I was talking about our kiss, Lily."

I looked at him and he just stared back.  Then the door opened and she walked in;  The Bringer of Doom, as I had nicknamed her the night before, had arrived.

I inhaled sharply.  I looked over at Emily- the cow was smiling!

James got up and walked over to her desk.

McGonagall looked up at him as he casually leaned forward; a move I had seen him use many times, just before he was going to take the plunge.  No!  Not that plunge!  The one where he asks someone out!

"So, Minnie, how you feeling today?" he asked.

"I am fine thank you, Mr. Potter.  Now, if you would kindly refer to me as Professor McGonagall before I put you in detention, and stop draping yourself across my desk," she replied sharply.

I remember thinking, just asking her how she was feeling does not constitute as hitting on someone, does it?  Just because he called her Minnie.

But then he really went and did it.  

"Come on, Minnie baby, you know you want me."

He had won.

Professor McGonagall looked up with one of the most shocked expressions I had ever seen her wear (and remember, she had been teaching the marauders for 7 years).  "Mr. Potter!  Detention tonight!  Now remove yourself from my desk and sit down!"

James smiled at her, "Of course, Professor."

By now the poor thing looked genuinely confused.

James walked past me and smirked that stupid little smirk at me.  

I'd been had.  

How the hell am I going to kiss him? I thought.

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Harry gurgled.

"I know, sweetie," I say.  "Daddy was a bit of a prick wasn't he?  I mean… silly!  Not prick!"

I smile at him and suddenly realise that I am now recounting this tale aloud.  I decide to continue, Harry seems to be desperate to know the end.

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I had managed to avoid James for the rest of the day.  I needed to mentally prepare myself for The Kiss.  Yes, it was going to be an incident, so it deserved to be capitalised.

I was in the dormitory when Emily came in.

"Lily, he's going to detention!" she cried.

"So?" I replied.

"Lily, you should do it now.  A bet is-"

"A bet," I finished.  "I know."

"Lily, come on.  The poor guy has been after this for at least 2 years.  Put him out of his misery!"

I sighed.  Damn best friend logic.

I trudged downstairs just in time to see James disappear through the portrait hole.  Well, I thought, at least I don't have to kiss him in front of the common room audience!

I quietly made my way across the common room, trying to remain inconspicuous and trying not to garner to much attention.  Just as I got the portrait hole, I noticed Sirius starting to turn around, so I quickly darted through the hole, landing in an unceremonious heap upon the ground.  I groaned and then remembered why I was out there, so I got back up and started towards McGonagall's classroom, dead intent on doing what I had set out to do.

I ran (yes, me, Lily Evans, ran!) towards McGonagall's classroom and there I saw him; he was just about to turn the corner into the corridor that leads to McGonagall's room.

"James!" I shouted.

He spun round and saw me; I was expecting him to smirk and give me some perverted comment about our kiss, but instead he gave me a genuine smile and replied, "Hi, Lily.  What's going on?"

Oh, please!  I thought.  You know exactly what is going on; you know exactly why I'm here!  "Well, I kind of need to my forfeit… I mean you did hit on McGonagall."

He smiled again, "Yeah, I never would have remembered.  Thanks for reminding me, Lily, it wasn't painfully embarrassing or anything."

I couldn't help but snort, "Yeah, because you **never** embarrass yourself!" I said sarcastically.  There was a slight pause where neither of us knew what to say, but then I remembered (again) why I was there.  "So…"

"So what?" he asked.

"The Kiss," I said- and yes, it still needed to be capitalised.  

"Oh, yeah, that," he muttered in return.

Now, excuse me.  He's been after this for years, he could at least show a teensy bit more excitement.

"Well, just pick which cheek, Evans," he mumbled.

I stared at him; for the last few minutes I had been Lily, and suddenly being Evans brought me back down to earth with a bump.  And why did the hell did he tell me to pick a cheek?

"Huh?" I so eloquently managed to say.

"Pick.  A.  Cheek," he replied, obviously getting a bit irritated.

"Um, cheek?  I thought I was going to kiss you," I replied, wondering why the hell I felt let down; okay, I knew why, I had a decent chance to get a good kiss from one of the hottest guys in school- again, at the time I wasn't blind, just a bit deluded.

"Well, we never set the… terms.  So, I just figured-"

"That I would give you a peck on the cheek?"

"Well, yeah," he replied.

I sighed, damn him!  If he hadn't been so un-James Potter-like when saying that I probably would have kissed him on the cheek, but I didn't.  I just sighed and said, "Savour this, Potter, because this is the only one you'll ever get from me."

In the split second I could see him, he looked genuinely confused.  I used my right hand and grabbed the back of his neck, I gently pulled him towards me as I stood on tiptoes and kissed him.  And it wasn't a nice, sweet kiss, it was a 'James Potter kiss' as the student population of Hogwarts used to call them (i.e. smash your mouth against your partner's as hard as you can yet it is still enjoyable).  I think he enjoyed it, mainly because after I granted entry into my mouth for his tongue, I could feel him smiling against my lips.  

We then parted.

He smiled, "Wow."

Well, at least he was able to form something close to coherent, if I had said something it would probably come out sounding like "nurgley wurgely, mmm."  Sad I know.  So, I just smiled.  I remember my brain asking if I was turning into a Hufflepuff.  

"I have detention," he got out with a bit of difficulty; okay, so the kiss had made him speechless too.  Good, good!  I am better than I thought.

"Okay."  Way to go, Lily!  You said a word, like a proper one from the dictionary!

He then grinned at me, a goofy one.  One that I have to say made him look quite cute.  He then turned around and made his way to McGonagall's room (thank God she hadn't seen us.  We would have been in detention until we were geriatric; apparently she's not to keen on finding students making out, especially at night); I couldn't help but notice that there was slightly more of a spring his step.  I smiled to myself and made my way back to the common room- with a bit of a spring in **my** step.

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     Now that was a good day!  It was also the day I discovered that James Potter kiss was not as bad as I thought it was; and to this day, I still hold that opinion. 

     After that we actually had a few other 'James Potter/Lily Evans mouth crushers', and they were all brilliant!  Unfortunately it was around that time that James went all shy on me and stopped asking me out, so, yes, it was I, Lily Evans, who asked James Potter out…

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     We were sitting in the heads common room on our own we had just had another brilliant 'mouth-crushing' session when I couldn't stand waiting anymore.

     "Why haven't you asked me out since we kissed?" I blurted out.

     James looked at me as if I'd just downed an entire bottle of fire-whisky in one breath.  "Huh?"

     "You've stopped asking me out," I elaborated.

     "Well, you always said that you would never go out with me and to stop asking.  So, I have."

     I looked at him; the boy had serious issues, especially at getting hints.  I mean, hello!  When a girl is happily letting you thrust your tongue (keep it clean, people) down her throat, it generally means she likes you!  "You're an idiot, James."

     "You mean, you do want to…date me?" he asked.

     I rolled my eyes, "James Potter would you do me the great honour of being my boyfriend?"

     To this day I have never actually gotten my answer; he just broke out in the massive smile, jumped up and started skipping around the room cheering.  Just as I was about to stun him (I had my wand at the ready and everything) he turned to me and kissed me; not a mouth-crusher.  A sweet, gentle, loving, caring kiss.  I could use more words to describe it but I would probably make **myself** throw up.  

     I just took it as a yes.

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     I smile as I look at Harry, "And that, my sweet, is how your daddy and I came to be."  He doesn't seem to be listening though; he has fallen asleep in my arms.  I gently place him in his crib and quietly pad out of the quidditch themed nursery and into James' and my room.  

     I sit down on my bed and start counting the minutes again. 

     Then there's a pop.

     He's back.

     I jump off the bed and leap into his arms; I let him engulf me with himself, as this is where I feel safest- in James' arms.

     "How's Harry?" he asks.

     "Asleep," I whisper in reply.  I am still in his arms.

     "How did you manage that?" I hear the smile in his voice.

     "I told him the story of us."

     "That's enough to put anyone to sleep!" he jokes.

     I swat him, "I like that story."

     He smiles again, I can feel it.  "Me too."  He then gently places a kiss on my forehead.

     I leave his arms and clamber back into bed, letting him complete the little ritual he has; he comes home, apparating into our room, hugs me and then goes to see Harry; I always let him do this alone, because I know he, like me, needs time every now and then to marvel at the life we've created.

     He comes back in and quickly changes; he then slips into bed beside me and wraps his arms around me.  I snuggle further into him, wallowing in the warmth, physical and emotional, that is my husband.

     This is how I will fall asleep.  In his arms.  Safe in the knowledge that my family has survived another day.


End file.
